Pepper, Be My Girlfriend?
by crazytomboy78
Summary: When Whitney keeps asking Tony out, Tony will do anything to get her to stop. But when he asks Pepper to pretend to be his girlfriend, what effect will it take on their friendship when Whitney isn't convinced of their love? Pepperony, TonyxOOC.
1. Asking Pepper Out

As Tony and Pepper walked down the halls of the school during their free period, they were stopped abruptly. Tony took a step back to see that to his dismay, it was Whitney. _Again._ Since she had lost her memory, she had been following him around school being so clingy to Tony that it annoyed him.

"Hey, Tony! There you are!" Whitney exclaimed as they continued down the hall, "so I was thinking this weekend we could go out! Like to the mall or something!" Whitney offered. Tony, in a panic, glanced at Pepper out of the corner of his eyes and quickly came up with an excuse.

"U-uhh, sorry Whitney, but I have plans with umm, Pepper this weekend!" Tony explained, grabbing Pepper's hand mid-sentence. Pepper was shocked at Tony's action, and him grabbing her hand sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach.

"We are?" Pepper asked. Tony gave her a 'just go with it, Pepper,' look when he said,

"Yeah, we are, remember?" Then Pepper caught drift.

"Oh! That's right, we are!" Pepper exclaimed. Whitney sighed and crossed her arms.

"Fine. How about next weekend?" She asked.

"Nope, busy that weekend too. It's inventor stuff." Tony said. Whitney sighed once more.

"Fine. Whatever…see you later, Tony." Whitney walked down the hall, swinging her hips in hopes that Tony would at least drool over her, but Tony was too concentrated on what he claimed (in his thought) to be the best idea he's had so far. Tony turned to Pepper.

"Tony, why'd you say that? We're not-" But Pepper was interrupted by Tony's excitement.

"Pepper, be my girlfriend?" Tony asked. Pepper was silenced with shock. _Had he just said what I think he said?_

"What?" She asked.

"Please? It's just to get Whitney off my back! I mean, she's a good friend but she's constantly asking me out and I don't want to go there with her. If you pretend to be my girlfriend for just a little while she'll stop." Tony explained. Pepper felt like running laps around the whole city, she was so elated to hear the words 'go out with me' come out of his mouth and be directed at her. It was just a shame that it was pretend.

"U-uhh, I…umm, okay?" Pepper stuttered. She was so surprised, she couldn't even make out a full sentence.

Tony sighed in relief. "Thanks, Pepper." He said.

"No problem," Pepper said as she turned away from Tony and smiled vigorously.

~…~

"I'm sorry, you what?" Rhodey asked after the whole ordeal had been explained to him.

"I'm pretending Pepper is my girlfriend until Whitney stops asking me out. Why, do you have your usual motherly input for me?" Tony explained.

"N-no, no, I just didn't think it would happen this way." Rhodey said. Tony was confused by the statement.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"I knew you two would get together, but I didn't think it would happen this way." Rhodey explained. Tony stopped in his tracks for a moment and blushed furiously.

"What? I-I don't…" Tony stuttered.

"Yeah. That's what they all say." Pepper then caught up to Tony and Rhodey, and further down the hallway, Whitney walked forward. Tony was quick to panic, but didn't show it. Whitney stopped in front of them with a bright smile on her face.

"Hey, Tony, you're free this weekend right?" She asked. Tony grabbed Pepper's hand.

"Actually, Whitney, there's something I need to tell you." Tony began. Whitney tilted her head in confusion. Tony hesitated to continue.

"Pepper and I, we're…" Tony began. Pepper began to play role.

"Go on, Tony, you can tell her," She said, squeezing his hand. The action made Tony nervous.

"We're going out now." Tony finished. Whitney was taken aback and began to feel sad.

"What? Y-you are?" She asked. Tony nodded and held up his and Pepper's intertwined hands. Whitney felt sickened at the sight.

"Oh…" she suddenly felt angry. "fine…but all this means is I'll be watching you. If this thing between you doesn't last, I'll make sure you're all mine once you're done with her. I'll be watching closely, Tony Stark." Whitney walked away. Tony swallowed nervously.

"Crud…" He muttered. Rhodey, having watched the whole ordeal, laughed hysterically.

Tony elbowed him in the stomach, but Rhodey kept laughing anyways.

**Beginning chapter! Oh my dear gosh a new story. But it's cute! And it's probably not going to be that long a story, either. Haha, I got this idea whole watching TV. What do you think? Tony's got quite the ordeal now doesn't he? Haha, review!**


	2. Basking in the Fake Relationshipiness

Pepper sighed romantically as she lay back on her bed. She thought of what had happened over the course of the day. In one day alone, he had held her hand, asked her to be his girlfriend, and denied Whitney. It had been an _excellent _day. The best part, perhaps, was Whitney having been denied. It had made her day. But then she remembered how they had held hands and that was a magical feeling that she was looking forward to feeling more often.

Her phone started to go off, which disrupted her train of thought. Coincidentally, but to her luck, it was Tony saying that he had just told Whitney that he and Pepper 'had a date later tonight'. Apparently Whitney was still experiencing short-term memory loss and would forget that you had told her something and would bring it up again, which was why she kept asking when he kept saying no. But the effects of the mask and her former illness were wearing off because she was remembering later that she was closely monitoring Tony and Pepper's 'relationship'.

"Oh, so if she comes by I have to pretend I'm just about to get ready for our 'date'?" Pepper was thrilled, but tried to hide her excitement from Tony. _I don't want to embarrass myself while talking to my crush, now do I?_ Pepper thought.

"Pretty much. I'm just warning you." Tony explained. Pepper was thankful that they weren't face-to-face right now, because she was smiling widely and could not wait to hang up so she could release her excited energy through running around the house and dancing because he had practically put her on call for a date. Oh how sweet it is to have someone that Tony doesn't _like_ like, to like him.

"Okay! See you Saturday then!" Pepper exclaimed.

"Wait, I didn't—" But Tony was stopped when Pepper hung up on him. He put his phone in his pocket, sat back and sighed. Sometimes, he thought, that girl is so…so…amazing?

Rhodey walked into the armory to see Tony sitting back in thought; a thought that seemed particularly nice to Tony. Rhodey smirked.

"Thinking about your 'girlfriend'?" Rhodey asked.

"What's that feeling you get when you look in a girl's eyes and feel like flying?" Tony asked, keeping his upward, distracted gaze. Rhodey walked over to Tony, bent down to his eye level, patted his shoulder and said,

"Love."

~…~

Tony couldn't help but think about Pepper. He thought of their fake relationship and wondered what it would be like if it were only real. If only Pepper did feel the same way for him that he was starting to feel towards her, and they had told each other, and they had kissed and gotten together and officially called themselves a couple, what would that be like? Tony wondered. He wondered, and wondered, and thought. Somehow she always swung back into his mind when he tried to concentrate on what he was doing. Schoolwork, Iron Man business, whatever else he had to do, none of it had his full concentration. Maybe half his concentration; the other half was on that special redheaded girl with the sunshine smile. Everything always went back to her. It was like some sort of lovely disease.

Then Rhodey walked into Tony's room and noticed him laying on his bed, deep in thought.

"What'cha thinking about?" Rhodey asked with a smirk. Tony snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to Rhodey.

"N-nothin'…" Tony responded with a blush. Rhodey shook his head, keeping his smirk and his arms crossed.

"You're thinking about Pepper again, aren't you?" Rhodey said. Tony stood, acting offended when he knew it was true.

"I am not!" Tony defended. Rhodey gave him a 'come on, Tony,' look. Tony sighed.

"Okay maybe a little." Rhodey kept his gaze, which made Tony nervous.

"Fine, maybe most of the time…" Tony said. It didn't convince Rhodey, who still kept his gaze.

"FINE, all the time!" Tony said. Rhodey chuckled and stood straight from his former position leaning on the door frame of Tony's room.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Rhodey said over his shoulder as he began to walk out of the room, "oh, and dinner's ready." Rhodey went back downstairs, Tony following shortly after.

~…~

During dinner, Tony felt his phone go off and saw he had a text message.

_Hey, Tony, what are you doing later? (; _Tony sighed. It was Whitney again.

_Uhh, movies with Pepper soon. Why? _Tony fibbed. It wasn't that he hated Whitney and didn't ever want to hang out with her, it was just that every time she asked what he was doing it ended up with her guilt tripping him into a date that he didn't want to go on. He wouldn't mind having a girlfriend, but he just wanted his relationship with Whitney to stay at a friend level. He had known Whitney as long as he could remember, but he saw her, and always would see her, as a good friend.

_Ugh never mind /: _Whitney responded. The response made Tony stressed because he didn't want to upset her.

_Why? What's wrong? _ Tony pretended he didn't know why she was upset, just to play the mood.

_Oh, nothing, Tony, it's just that I'll be watching you on your little 'date'. So see you at the movies (: _Tony didn't like this new behavior of Whitney's. He knew she could be a bit spoiled sometimes and was used to getting what she wanted all the time, but she never acted this way before, or at least that he had heard of. Tony put his phone away and called Pepper.

"_Hello?" _

At first Tony didn't know what to say because he was nervous, but hearing her voice gave him an idea for what to say as explanation.

"Hey, I was just making sure you remembered our date tonight." He said, trying (and succeeding) to be slick.

"_What? What da-…oooh…" _She paused, _"that date! No, I would never forget," _Tony smiled.

"Good. See you in a half an hour." And with that he hung up and got ready.

~…~

"So, what's the plan for tonight, Mr. Boyfriend?" Pepper said with a smile. Tony noted her lack of the word 'fake', but he was having fun and that's really all he cared about; that and getting Whitney to stop asking him out.

"Oh, you'll see…" Tony said with a smile as he stared off into the distance at the same time he grabbed her hand and held it. Pepper blushed, as did Tony; but they didn't know the other had done so. Tony acted as if it were an innocent act of a boyfriend to do on a date, but he really just wanted to hold her hand because it was there and wasn't connected to his.

Then they came to the movie theater, and when Pepper heard Tony ask for two tickets to the movie she had wanted to see for the longest time, she was elated.

"Oh. my. gosh. I love this movie! This is what we're doing?" Tony smiled.

"I thought you'd like it." He said. They sat down in the theater and after the previews started, Tony saw Whitney walk in. He knew he had to make it a convincing date, so he yawned and stretched to emphasize his 'tiredness' and as he dropped his arms down one of them landed around Pepper. It seemed like the ideal moment, everything was perfect. He was on a date with the perfect girl, and everything was good right now. _I can't believe I'm on a date with Pepper. I, am on a date, with Pepper. On a date! _He thought. _But wait, we're just friends, right? _He tried to believe it, and he told himself they were good friends and that's all they have been as long as they've known each other. But then there was that one pesky voice in the back of his head that told him they were going to be much, much more. And the worst part was, he believed it most of the time.

Upon Tony's arm landing around her shoulder, Pepper smiled and blushed. She was on a date with the very same boy that she had been crushing on since she laid her excited eyes into his forlorn, lost ones. _Oh, how perfectly blue they were…_Pepper snuggled into Tony then to convince Whitney more that they were dating. I must remember to thank her, Pepper thought, for setting us up like this. _Even if it is fake…its too bad it's fake…he's just using me to un-attract Whitney…_Pepper felt sorrow for the fact that it wasn't real. But she knew that either way, they were on a date and that's all that really mattered to her.

After the movie, Tony and Pepper walked out of the theater and into the dark spring New York City night. Tony had entwined his fingers with hers, and they were walking home; or so Pepper thought. Tony knew Whitney was pretty much stalking them, and that made it all the much easier for him to pretend he was on a date with Pepper.

"So, did you like the movie?" Tony asked to break their silence. They walked into the park.

"Oh, it would have been good if I weren't so busy concentrating on you," Pepper smiled up to him. She made sure Whitney was listening from wherever she was stalking them; she was thoroughly enjoying every second of this moment. Not only was she on a date with the boy of her dreams, but she was rubbing it in the face of the enemy; and that felt oh-so-good.

"You know, I really enjoyed the movie." Tony said. Pepper looked over to him with a smile and squeezed his hand. Her tighter grip made Tony feel the butterflies in his stomach.

"Oh you did?" Pepper said.

"Yeah. I especially liked how you were in it."

"Oh, I liked your part in the movie too," Pepper said. Tony chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. Pepper rested her head on his arm and sighed in delight. It had been one good night.

**Bah, I have so many stories to update! You're lucky I like this one so much. Consider it a 'school's-almost-out' present…or an early school's out present, if you will. So, review?**


	3. Just a Regular Day at School

At school the next day, Tony and Pepper were walking down the hall when they were stopped by Whitney.

"Hi, Tony!" She said happily, then turning to Pepper with a death glare. "Tony's 'girlfriend'," She sneered. Pepper stuck out her tongue at Whitney without Tony noticing.

"So, what, you don't like to be romantic in school? Or, are you not dating at all?" Whitney said with a devilish grin. Tony shifted his weight to his other hip as he crossed his arms.

"Whitney, for the last time, we are dating. I don't have to be holding Pepper's hand or something every second that we're together." Tony said.

"Whatever. So you went on one date. That doesn't prove anything. It doesn't convince me any further. I'll still be watching you, Tony. Like a hawk," Whitney said, walking away. Pepper huffed to herself, crossing her arms.

"Psh, she's just jealous." Pepper muttered. Tony chuckled at the comment and they continued their way to class.

"Oh, because everyone is jealous when I'm taken?" Tony joked. Pepper laughed silently.

"Yes, Tony, that's exactly it. The world should be jealous." Pepper punched Tony's arm playfully and Tony laughed. Tony's laugh brought a smile to Pepper's lips, and Tony saw the sparkle in her eyes out of the corner of his; and that triggered something inside him to say 'don't you want this relationship to be real? Don't you want to call her your girlfriend and not be lying?' But Tony tried to push it away. There's no way, he thought, that Pepper and I will be anything more than friends. He tried to tell himself he didn't like her that way, but he just didn't believe himself like he should. Why does my mind have to conflict itself? Ugh!

As Tony thought about it more, and looked at Pepper more, he suddenly ran into the classroom door that they had been heading towards. Pepper tried to stifle her laughs as Tony stepped back and rubbed his face. Pepper couldn't help but chuckle aloud.

"Yeah, I think you're actually supposed to open the door before you try to enter the classroom," Pepper teased.

"Yeah, sorry, I was concentrated on…other stuff…" Tony said as he opened the classroom door and went to take his seat, Pepper following behind him with a smile spread across her lips. _Oh, Tony…you're so cute when you run into doors…_

Whitney watched from her seat as Tony and Pepper took their seats in class. So far they were just being friendly. There were no romantic gestures from either person. It was all so intriguing for her, and she absorbed every second.

"Yo, Whitney, there a TV over there or something?" Happy budded in when he noticed Whitney's intense staring. She scoffed at him.

"_No, _I'm watching Tony and Pepper because SUPPOSEDLY they're dating now." Whitney explained.

"Whoa, Stark and Pepper are dating now? Sweet!" Happy said excitedly.

"You can say that," Whitney said, narrowing her eyes as she caught them holding hands. "But I'm going to prove it wrong."

~…~

After class, Tony and Pepper were at Tony's locker. Pepper was leaning against the other lockers, her head resting near his hand, which was resting on a locker above her head. Tony closed his locker and leaned in closer to her; but he didn't kiss her. He remained inches from her face to make it look romantic, because he knew Whitney would be nearby watching. Tony rubbed noses in a 'nose kiss', which he had heard from somewhere, was romantic looking and it was what some romantic couples did.

Yet being so close to her face made him tempted to kiss her. And the temptation was strong, too. Tony stared deeply into Pepper's eyes and as he saw Whitney walking down the hall, he leaned in and kissed her. Tony partly expected her to push him away, but instead she just kissed back. Tony couldn't believe she was kissing back. Maybe it was because she saw Whitney walking down the hall that compelled her to play along, but Tony didn't care. The point of the moment was that she was responding in a way he had hoped she would.

Tony and Pepper suddenly heard the bell ring and quickly parted, leaving a blush on his and Pepper's cheeks. They rushed to their next bell class pretending nothing had just happened.

Whitney, on the other hand, wasn't too happy. Then again, walking down the hall and seeing the boy you had hoped for at least a date with was making out with the very girl you had hoped he wouldn't be with wasn't too pleasing a sight to anyone. She grunted angrily and stormed off in the opposite direction that her class was. She didn't need any stupid class; she needed alone time.

Pepper sat down in her class, which was one of few that she didn't have with Tony, staring off into space and sighing delightedly.

"Umm, something on your mind there, Pepper?" Rhodey asked quietly so the teacher wouldn't hear.

"Oh, only the most wonderful thing in the world…" Pepper said in a dazed voice.

"And that would be?" Rhodey asked.

"In the hall today, we were at Tony's locker and when Whitney turned the corner into our hall, Tony kissed me." Pepper said, still speaking in a dazed voice. Rhodey smiled.

"Oh he did?"

"Mmhmm." Rhodey turned back to the lesson with a devious smile.

~…~

Tony, now sitting in his math class, couldn't stop thinking about what he'd just done. It was like something overtook me, he thought, I couldn't control myself. She was right there, Whitney was turning the corner, I couldn't help it. It seemed like the right thing to do; besides, the sparkles in her eyes were dancing in the light and her smile only made it worse. The way she looked so hopeful and happy in that moment, Tony couldn't resist kissing her. All the circumstances added up to that moment. And the weirdest thing, for Tony, was that once he started he just couldn't stop. Kissing her was one thing, but continuing to kiss her for minutes on end in the middle of the hallway where everyone could see, and possibly be caught on camera by one of the school's many cameras caused risk to be lectured by a member of the staff that saw them making out in the middle of the hallway. Yet somehow, hearing the bell ring just snapped him out of it. It brought him back to reality and made him realize what had just happened. But she was playing along with every moment; why had she kissed back so passionately?

…why had he kissed back so passionately too?

"Mr. Stark!" Tony was snapped back to reality when his name was called in class.

"What? Sorry," Tony said.

"The answer please," The teacher said in an irritated tone. Tony blushed and gave the correct answer.

~…~

All day, Tony thought of the move he had made at his locker. He thought about it as he walked the halls with his friends, and while he was in all his classes. But now it was free period, and it was just him and her; and no one else.

They sat on the risers sitting on the roof in silence at first; that was until Pepper spoke up.

"So, umm, you've been awfully silent today…" Tony cleared his throat before speaking.

"Uhh, yeah, I've just got a lot on my mind." Tony said. Pepper felt a bit of panic; that was never good. Pepper stood and sat next to Tony.

"And what would that be?" Pepper asked innocently. Tony didn't want to lie. He wanted to clear the air.

"W-well it's just about earlier today. I mean, I didn't think you'd kiss back and I didn't mean to, really, I'm sorry if it's not really what you wanted-" Tony's babbling was stopped by Pepper placing her finger over his lips.

"No, it's okay. I kind of liked it." Pepper said with a smile. Tony smiled in relief and wrapped his arm around her as she leaned in to him and rested her head on his chest and Tony pulled out his review notes and helped Pepper study for an upcoming test.

Whitney, looking through the window on the small door that opened to the roof, growled. They were getting more convincing. They made out in the hallways and cuddled on the roof. What more proof did a girl need?

Plenty more, thought Whitney. They may be convincing now, but they'll snap soon. They won't last in this hustle-and-bustle world. They would break up, Whitney thought, I know it. With all the crap throw into the fan in high school, they wouldn't last a day. She still had all the reason to watch as their relationship slowly died.

And if it didn't, she'd see to it that it did.

**Okay, I'm throwing this out there now. For the next three weeks, I have to go to some stupid leaders in training camp that my mom signed me up for that I'm not too thrilled about, so if I'm slow to update then you know why. Oh, and the third week is a week-long resident camp so that week I won't be updating. And after that I only have a week until i go on vacation, so my updating in July in general will be slowed quite a bit. So sorry if I ever keep you waiting! Review!**


	4. Convincing To All

Whitney, believe it or not, wasn't a very patient girl. So when Tony and Pepper walked around school acting like a completely convincing couple, she could barely hold down her urge to find a way to break them up. She grimaced and growled when they held hands walking down the hallway, and she felt like she wanted to puke when she saw them 'nose kiss. She hated it all and she wanted to rip their relationship to shreds, and then burn the pieces so there weren't even the ashes left of hope between them. But she knew that regular high school pressures would do the trick sooner or later.

Tony and Pepper, however, laughed their hardest whenever Whitney became out of earshot. They high-fived and laughed at her suspense.

"She really thinks we're a couple," Tony would joke.

"What are you saying, Tony, this is a joke to you and you'd never go out with me for real?" Pepper would ask. Tony grew nervous.

"What? No, that's not what I'm saying!"

"Well it sounds an awful lot like it…" Tony sighed and placed his hands on either of her shoulders.

"Pepper, I really don't mean it that way. I'm sorry if I sounded like I don't want to date you, because I do. There's nothing I'd rather do than just be with you, okay?" Pepper smiled, nodded, and they walked off to their next class. _Damn you, Tony, why can't this relationship be real? _Pepper thought as they walked to class.

~…~

As Whitney sat in her class, she thought about how impatient she was getting about Tony and Pepper's relationship. She could barely stand it.

"Rhodey," She whispered. "Psst! Rhodey!" Rhodey turned his head back to her.

"What?" He asked.

"About Tony and Pepper…are they _really _dating?" She asked. Rhodey smirked.

"Yes, Whitney, for the last time," he said, "they're totally and completely in love." He turned back to the teacher's lesson, knowing that that wasn't a lie.

Whitney dropped her head onto her desk in disappointment.

How could two completely different people be so much in love? Tony was a gorgeous billionaire genius inventor who never really got too attached to anything or anyone. Pepper was an extremely clingy, annoying little twit who became attached to every little thing that came her way. How in the world could Tony like her so much? Some mere…commoner, dare I say? Whitney thought. I just don't get it. Pepper is a complete mismatched pair with Pepper. He shouldn't be mingling with people who aren't on the same social level as himself. That's why he deserves me. I'm the only one who could possibly be right for him.

So why does he choose her?

~…~

As Tony and Pepper walked down the hall at school, they were stopped by a large figure exiting the classroom near them—Happy.

"Hey, Stark! Congrats on the girlfriend! I knew you two would end up together." Both Tony and Pepper stopped in their tracks and a huge blush formed on BOTH their cheeks. Had Happy really just said that?

Tony, however, didn't have time to show his surprise, as Whitney was walking out of the same classroom now; forming a smirk when she saw Tony's state of surprise.

"Thanks, Happy. Honestly I always kind of pictured us together too," Tony said with a smile as he wrapped his arm around Pepper. Pepper stood there silently and smiled; noticing the look of irritation on Whitney's face. She was glad about what Tony had said and she hoped it was true, but she knew it was just something he was saying to convince Whitney otherwise.

Tony felt a sense of confidence within his pretending. He didn't know where it had come from, but he didn't hate it. For some reason, Tony thought, I tend to develop a sense of confidence in situations involving Pepper and Whitney and convincing Whitney that I'm dating Pepper now. Plus, it wouldn't be all bad, making this into a real relationship, right? Maybe when this is all over we can sit down and talk and…

Tony was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Rhodey say "Hey, Tony," as he approached the two in the hallway. Tony listened, still a bit distracted by his thoughts, as Rhodey asked about last night's homework.

Rhodey noticed Tony's dazed state, but he concealed his smile. He knew what his friend was thinking about, and who as well. Rhodey knew that it may be a fake relationship, but they're making it all too real. And it's probably up to me to make it real, Rhodey thought. If I'm correct, both Tony and Pepper will be too shy and too scared to tell each other how they really feel. So I may have to play the 'messenger' card and tell both of them for the other. The more real the relationship, the more convincing to Whitney right?

The three then walked to class, seeming to have the same thought on their minds:

What if this relationship is real?

**Ahh, more shortness! I'm sorry! I had to get at least one thing posted before I left for vacation, otherwise I'd leave everything hanging for a week! Yeah, I'm going on a 5-day cruise and I won't be back until August. But I'll update as soon as I get back! Bye! Review!**


	5. It's Genius!

Whitney finally let it all set in. She finally learned to at least accept the fact that Tony and Pepper are now dating. No, she didn't like it, but she knew that her evidence-seeking days were over. She had fully accepted Tony and Pepper as a couple. The worst couple she's ever witnessed, nonetheless, but a couple. She was fully aware that they were in love.

And she wanted something to be done at once. She hatched a plan to separate them completely and lure Tony towards her. But how can I do that? She thought. She thought more to form a plan. Sure, she was wasting her math class completely, but her thought process was the usual 'I'm rich and I don't need it anyways' routine, so she didn't really bother to pay attention on a regular basis anyways.

Then she got it.

I'll just kiss Tony which will make Pepper mad at Tony and Tony would like me! She thought. I can catch him in the hallway and the deed can be done by the end of the school day! It's genius! Whitney thought.

Look out, Pepper, because I'm about to steal your man in one fellow swoop.

~…~

Tony was at his locker between classes, as usual, putting some books away and getting others out. It was the usual routine.

But something not-so-usual happened. Whitney came up to him—not very odd so far—for what Tony was guessing would be a friendly chat. And it started out as such.

"Hey, Tony," She said.

"Hey Whitney." Tony responded, zipping his backpack and turning to Whitney.

"You know, there's something I've always kind of wanted to tell you…" Whitney said. By this point, Tony was curious, but he didn't suspect anything out of the ordinary yet. Whitney knew that Pepper would be turning the corner any minute now, coming from her previous class to meet Tony at his locker and go to their next class together; just like they did every day. She knew because that was when they walked by her while holding hands or doing something romantic and sickening. So she knew she had to make her move soon.

"Mmhm?" He asked nonchalantly. Then Whitney saw Pepper turning the corner. She grabbed Tony by his shirt collar and kissed him.

Now Pepper, who had been in a fairly good mood today, didn't seem too happy when she saw this. In fact, once she saw Whitey and Tony...ugh, kissing, she stopped in her tracks. She was fuming. In fact, if smoke could be blasting out of her ears right now, it would be.

Pepper walked over to them and ripped Whitney off of Tony. Tony took a few steps back in shock and slight fear. Whitney had a smug smile planted on her face. Pepper wanted to smack it off so badly, but resisted.

"What are you looking at me for? Tony's the one that jumped onto me like some crazed madman." Whitney said with a smile.

"Ohoh, I KNOW Tony wouldn't cheat on me, if he knows what's good for him. I KNOW it was you because Tony is sweet and kind and faithful and you're just some selfish, backstabbing WHORE!" Pepper tried not to yell. Whitney took this comment like a slap in the face, then became irritated.

"Oh, you did NOT just call me a whore!"

"Whatcha gonna do, slut? You gonna make out with Rhodey next? Oooh, I'm so scared!" Pepper taunted. Whitney growled and flew at Pepper with both her fists clenched. Pepper stopped Whitney's first punch from hitting her and twisted it back, resulting in Whitney flipping over and landing on her bottom, feeling pain in her bottom and her arm. Pepper smiled smugly and crossed her arms in satisfaction.

Whitney got up and swung her fist again. Pepper grabbed her fist and redirected the blow at Whitney, twisting her arm in the process.

Pepper then swung her leg around and kicked the backs of Whitney's knees, making her fall to the ground.

Pepper bent over her and said, "Don't ever, EVER mess with my boyfriend again." and walked casually over to Tony.

"Wh-what was THAT?" Tony asked in shock.

Pepper then realized just what she had done to the fullest extent. She blushed.

"What? I'm just defending my fake-relationship!" Pepper said, trying to mask her nervousness. They began to walk to the lab.

"Well i-it kinda sounded like you were jealous." Tony said shyly.

"W-well, you know, I'm just trying to be convincing..." Pepper said, looking down to hide her blush.

"Well, were you really jealous or was it just an act?" Tony asked. This made them stop in their tracks and go silent.

"Maybe a little bit..." Tony raised an eyebrow.

"Pepper, you flipped her over and twisted her arm TWICE."

"Alright, maybe a lot a bit." Pepper confessed, heavily blushing. Tony chuckled lightly and wrapped his arm around her as they walked to class.

~…~

As Pepper walked through the halls in search of the bathroom (as an excuse from the deathly boring study hall), she was stopped by Whitney.

"What do you want? Come for round two?" Pepper asked, shifting her weight to her hip and crossing her arms.

"I came to tell you the truth about Tony." She said. "He's not who you think he is." Whitney lied. Pepper raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"True, he is a billionaire genius inventor who's about to be head of a company, but he's not the sweet, innocent boy you know. He doesn't really love you. I was trying to show you that by letting him kiss me in the hall earlier, but you didn't see that. He may have pointed the fingers at me, but that was his cover. He jumped onto me without any control. He just lost it. I asked him what about Pepper? But he just brushed you right off his shoulder." Whitney explained, lying without a regret or doubt in her mind.

Pepper, of course, didn't believe a word of what she was hearing. But she didn't make it known just yet; no, she had a plan.

"Really?" Pepper asked, pretending her best to look and sound hurt. Whitney crossed her arms and smirked, then nodded.

"Yeah. He told me so himself. He's just another player," Whitney said.

"Oh wow. I had no idea! Thank you so much for telling me Whitney! I'm so sorry for flipping you earlier." Pepper said, trying to conceal her smile.

"Anytime, Pepper." Whitney patted Pepper's shoulder and walked off.

Once Pepper knew Whitney was out of earshot, she burst into laughter. If she thought I would believe that crap then she's in for a big surprise 'cause she's full of crap! Pepper thought. She is so full of herself!

~…~

Once the bell rang, Pepper jumped out of her seat in excitement.

"So, Tony, I have the greatest idea ever!" Pepper said, rushing over to Tony's desk as he stood and gathered his books.

"And what would that be?" Tony asked.

"So when I was in the hall earlier Whitney told me that it was you who kissed her and that gave me the best idea ever!" She started. "So she's clearly trying to break us up, and since she insisted on 'proving our relationship to be real' and insisted on splitting us up, I say we play along with her little game and 'pretend to break up'! Then she'll really be sorry because you'll pretend to be all mopey and sad because the love of your life just dumped you!" Pepper explained. Tony raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Hmm. Sounds like a good enough plan."

"Okay great! So we'll pretend to fight later during free period. I'll get her up to the roof to 'comfort me because I'm upset about you cheating on me' and when she gets there we'll be fighting and breaking up! It's genius!" Pepper exclaimed. They formulated the rest of the plan during their next mod class.

**Ohookay, that was pretty freakin' sweet. But if you thought this chapter was a combination of epically awesome and fluffily sweet then you should just wait till next chapter cuz it's gonna be adorable! But this also means the story is coming close to and end…): anyways review!**


	6. PlottingIn A Good Way

**Yeah. I'm being nice. Consider it an 'I'm sorry for taking so damn long to update all my stories' gift. I promise I'll try to update as many as possible tonight and tomorrow! But for now this'll have to do ^.^  
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"Quick, she's coming! Start fighting!" Pepper whispered. "Oh, and step on my foot!"

"What?"

"Step on my foot! DO IT!" Pepper yelled. Tony, as an effect of being yelled at so suddenly, stepped on Pepper's foot. The pain brought tears to her eyes—just as she planned. More believable if I'm crying, right? She thought.

"I just can't believe you Tony!" Pepper yelled. "I thought I knew you and I thought you knew me back! But obviously I was wrong!"

"Well not everyone is perfect Pepper! Maybe I didn't mean to kiss her, did you ever think of that?"

"Oh, so you're saying kissing Whitney was an accident? You did it on accident? On your own? Gee, that's a little redundant, don't ya think Tony?"

Whitney stopped at the door when she heard the arguing. She smiled devilishly.

"Come on, Pepper, I don't know what came over me!"

"You're just not selling it anymore, Tony. None of it." With this, Pepper walked away, trying to hold together her fake-sadness just up until she was out of eyesight of Whitney.

Tony sat, retaining his fake-misery. Little did Whitney know just how much thinking he was doing right now regarding certain feelings for a certain redhead.

As Tony sat on the roof of the school, gazing out at the skyline, Whitney sat next to him quietly.

"So, Tony, you free tonight?" Whitney asked.

"Yeah." He said, not looking over to her.

"Cool! Wanna hang out at the mall or something? Just the two of us?" She asked. Tony sighed and turned to her.

"Actually, Whitney, I know why you're here and I'm flattered but I-I'm just not ready for a relationship yet. Pepper and I...we just clicked, you know? We were so in love, we got each other, and...everything was going so well. Everything was perfect. I thought we'd be together forever, but...somehow things just went so wrong, I just don't know what happened," Tony pretended as best he could to be hurt. Yet somehow, for some reason, he couldn't help but feel like the hurt was real.

"I just don't know how such a perfect relationship could've gone so wrong."

Whitney, by this point, felt incredulously guilty. She had had no idea that Tony had felt that way about Pepper. She felt bad now that she had caused Tony to feel such pain of losing someone when he had lost so many already.

"Tony, I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I started the fight that broke you up because I planned everything to happen from kissing you to making you two fight. It's all my fault." Tony looked up to her in (pretend) confusion.

"What do you mean? I thought you said you didn't mean to kiss me. You said some kid pushed you into me. It was all a big misunderstanding."

"No, it wasn't. I planted that kiss and talked to Pepper later that day and told her you didn't really love her, which caused your fight later that day. It was all a plot to split you up so you'd get together with me. I'm so sorry, Tony." Whitney explained.

"S-so you mean it's not too late to apologize to Pepper?" Tony said, rising his head in (fake, yet oddly kinda real) happiness and hope. Whitney nodded sadly.

"Oh, thanks for coming clean, Whitney!" Tony exclaimed, standing up.

"Wait, so you're not mad?" Whitney asked, standing after him.

"Oh, no, I'm beyond mad. I'm just happy that you fell for that act," Tony said, laughing, as Pepper came out from her hiding place and joined in Tony's laughter.

"We knew you were setting us up all along. We just decided to string you along to show you not to mess with people's relationships." Tony explained further. Whitney's shocked expression was priceless for them.

"Oh, and by the way, Pepper and I were never really dating. I was pretending so you'd stop asking me out. I'd thought that after the first few honest rejections you'd back off, but when you didn't, I had to do SOMETHING to get you off my back. I'm sorry, Whitney. You're my friend and all and I care about you in a friendship kind of way, but I'm just not interested in dating you." Tony said. Whitney was beyond upset.

Surprisingly to all, Tony turned to Pepper and grabbed her hands in his.

"But I realize now that it should've been real all along. I was so stupid to have you pretend all this time when it could have been real, and honestly I feel kinda stupid. I realize now, that..." Tony said calmly yet nervously.

"I love you, Pepper." Whitney was long gone by now. Once she had seen that turn of the head and passionate hand-grab, she knew she was out and Pepper was in.

"Oh, Tony!" Pepper exclaimed, jumping on him with a hug. "I love you too! I have for a while, actually! I mean, not a WHILE, but kinda ever since I met you I've felt kinda this way, and I'd always hoped you'd feel the same way-" Pepper blathered, only to be interrupted by Tony kissing her. Pepper's eyes widened, but then they closed and she began to kiss back.

This time it was all too real. When he said he loves her, it was real. And when he kissed her, it actually meant he loves her.

It was perfect.

"Hehe," Pepper spoke once they parted, "k that was a reeeally nice way of making me shut up," Tony chuckled at her as the bell rang and kept his hand in hers as they walked off to class.

This is the way things should be, Tony thought.

**Aww! What a cute ending! Aha :3 Well that marks the ending of another story, sooo. Yes. Review?**


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